Diamond_Jim

I suppose that is why I say just roll the dice and keep him. At one low pick vs one four or five higher at most next year the value he gives (both money wise and performance) outweighs a trade now. Would think that while May is a like to have he's not a must have. If he does stay it gives us the ability to use the spare $500k to pump into a forward loaded contract extension for the junior brigade such as Brayshaw, Oliver and Petracca. Every cloud has a silver lining. As you know I am very big on trading Hogan for value as I think he is a player with high worth whom we are best at covering. Frankly very surprised by Freo trying the low ball but que sera sera

the elephant in this ever decreasing room is of course Weideman. Can you play all three plus perhaps Preuss. Of course you can and it may work but what if it doesn't. In a way the decision is easy... at one early pick the answer is no and at two the answer is yes. Of course in the real world the hard decisions come with say one early pick and a late first or a first from next year etc etc. Meanwhile like watching paint dry we await the progress of this riveting saga. The fact that we had this will he won't he once before with Hogan tends to distract somewhat from the drama.

see that Docklands is now officially Marvel Stadium Let the jokes begin

of course in cricketing terms 187 is not a great number either. Not to worry if anything ever happens such as Hogan sneezing etc we'll have another five pages about him disliking the pollen season or similar

The Top of the fringe the ultimate club man a solid player who got the most out of his time. Compliments that aren't addressed to a lot of players... well done

way overs if true. When was the last time a player at a bottom club was told to look elsewhere and you traded a top 36 pick for him. Makes AVB definitely worth a second rounder

Agree but I suspect WCE upped their offer dramatically from the reported $800k which was earlier bandied around. My guess is they offered the magical 7 figure number and perhaps hinted at something in life after football. Would be surprised if the latter does not figure highly in a two team town such as Perth.

very lucky to sign him up at an acceptable dollar and avoid the free agent circus. 2019 showed that his 2018 forward showing was certainly no aberration.

2019 has to be his break out year. The last six months of 2018 saw amazing incremental improvement. Has the potential to be a top ten (in our 22) player for a long time. Beware the hunters and sign him mid season please if not before to avoid the "will he go to Collingwood" saga.

When I raised the revenue raising concept of the $5 charged for registering in the finals ballot many people replied that it wasn't an issue and equated to the cost of a cup of coffee. Well for around 2-3 cups of coffee we could ditch Darwin. This really is getting way beyond a joke. We take a game that is is 70:30 our way in Melbourne and turn it into a 50/50 at a stadium that can take 10k and which is never on free to air. Pure madness. Happy to have the game at the Alice if needed and I think we can make it into a TV blockbuster but the Darwin game is ridiculous. PS: As to the territory fielding a team...some local council districts in the eastern states have more people than the whole of the territory combined. PPS: How about a game in Mildura or Albury/Wodonga funded by the Vic Gov't under the decentralisation program like the Bulldogs have with Ballarat.

just noticed on some of the TABS (they confuse me with the names) Winx paid $1.10 the win and $1:04 the place. Not bad those place odds for a significant investment by the very serious punters Will the Cox Plate be the usual 6 or 7 runners? Should suit her down to the ground. It was the positioning that nearly beat her today as Macca points out rather than the other horses.

Tend to agree in the sense that you trade to better or improve the list. The unfortunate thing is that the outside mid is almost last year's intercept marker and the KPF of the year before. Hard to see us getting much better from another club but I'm open to offers as is the club obviously.

Interesting trivia... he's never played a full season (all 22 games). Maximum 19 in 2014... most other years 17/18

Interesting to see if things change with FA. To date it has been used by the power clubs to attract players from the lesser clubs at much the same salary. The lesser clubs don't scream that much as they get a good draft pick in return. I sense that the wheel is now slowly turning with the lesser clubs offering big money to the players from the power clubs. And moreover the power club gets comparatively little by way of compensation. It is yet another subtle manipulation of the system a la the way Sydney used the so called "interstate supplement" to pay its top players that much more. Imagine the fun of the trading season if they move the FA requirement down to five or six years. Richmond and Lynch are an interesting exception on the money side of things

Interesting topic and I am not sure of the answer. As a related question do clubs have different characters or are they merely one homogeneous group such as the world's shopping malls. If I was a player at the top end I would be motivated by the crowds (they are entertainers after all) and the team environment whatever that means. Certainly winning but perhaps more importantly not constantly losing would be relevant. Whatever makes a destination club I am sure that the MFC is not one at present.

the wonders of the Excel spread sheet my friend.... they'll have the numbers with every variation loaded. It's the curve balls that cause the problems.. like T Mac and Brayshaw... both players performed way outside their immediately expected salary curve for different reasons. The interesting dynamic is what you build into the model for the next round of TV rights and therefore increases to the salary cap. I'd be thinking they are aggressive assumptions in the main. Internet streaming may deliver another golden egg.

Agree and of course every club looks at every player at every other club.. it is their job The simple way for it to happen is for WCE to contract Gaff and then trade him to us in return for Hogan. Would make Gaff a hero in the west and it doesn't really adversely impact him Stranger things have happened. Is it a fair trade... not sure and of course there is the salary issue for Gaff

Wonderful history . Of course the banners were only made for finals. Not sure when they became common place during the home and away season. Wonderful memories of the old stands. Mind you other than the two members stand they were concrete monoliths or as it has become trendy to call them... brutal architecture.

.. perhaps there was something in O Mac delaying his signing after all

so assuming we get May what does the backline look like next year? I thought our shortcomings were Vince and Lewis whereas May is a tall. Does this mean one of Frost or Omac are back to Casey?

well said... had come to the same conclusion Freo won't be bottom next year nor will they rocket up the ladder so a very fair chance pick 4/5 next year is still there. bTW on your Kelly trade... the problem I see is that pick 5/6 plus our first for next year (say 15 plus) sounds light for Kelly etc. Like the thinking though

out of curiosity who are we looking to use the second pick ( pick 5/6) on assuming May is available for pick 10 or thereabouts. Thanks

Apparently Moore is likely to stay at Collingwood according to his manager so getting a a draft pick that they can trade for May just became more difficult. Who else is interested in him? Thanks

and has been told by the struggling GCS to look elsewhere

What was a bit worrying was that for a player in 2017 who was regarded as too good for VFL, his VFL form dropped off as 2018 continued. Would need to be a Lazarus like turn around to get beyond 2019.